|
KIDS
WITH
CAMERAS
is a one-hour documentary about the progress and challenges of a
group of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, aged eleven to
nineteen, as they engage in an intensive film camp taught by
award-winning educator Brad Koepenick. A multiple national
award-winning educator, Brad Koepenick was a professional actor
whose film SAND TRAP won the Moviemaker Magazine Breakthrough
Filmmaker Award at the very first Hollywood Film Festival in 1997 -
before he discovered his true vocation and started teaching
full-time. After educating many autistic children mainstreamed in
neuro-typical classrooms, he decided to teach a fully “on the
spectrum” camp for the first time... and we caught it on tape!
The number of children diagnosed with autism is increasing at an
accelerated rate nationwide, having grown ten-fold over the last two
decades and reaching as many as 1 in 150 children born in the USA
today – four times more boys than girls. All this has prompted many
voices to call autism an epidemic. |
 |
|
|
The investigation about the future course of education for autistic
children is at the forefront of public consciousness. Recent research –
as well as testimonials from parents of children who have attended
Brad’s camp – indicate that developing autistic children’s creative and
acting abilities significantly improves their social interaction skills,
and is generally overlooked as a therapeutic tool. Footage of the
all-immersive, ciné vérité week or activities is combined with revealing
moments of seven Asperger Syndrome-afflicted children’s private lives,
and candid interviews with their families, exploring and explaining
their own coping strategies. Last but not least, the children’s artistic
efforts – films, poems, paintings and music – combine to paint a soulful
picture of how encouraging and training creativity is a necessary step
to connect the exponentially increasing autistic population with the
rest of the world. |
 |
In fifteen years’ experience teaching 'The Celluloid Heroes Movie
Camp' he created, Brad has developed a methodology of student
involvement which has proven to be particularly well suited to
inspire creative work from students on the autistic spectrum - from
severely non-functional, to the lightest forms of Asperger’s
Syndrome. By using the techniques of Improvisation created by
Viola Spolin (of Chicago’s Second City fame), and the Theater Games
further developed by her son Paul Sills (with whom Brad has
studied), Brad creates a playful atmosphere conducive to
collaboration - a particularly difficult task with autistic children
who generally experience difficulties in relating to others.
In five short, overwhelming days, Brad battles the communication
challenges that these often-brilliant children face - to teach them
storytelling, writing, acting, improvisation, stop animation, music
cueing and voice-over techniques. At the end of the week, each
student authors two short animation films; in addition, a live
action, class project is shot and completed. All projects are
screened for the children and their parents on the fifth day. |
|
|
Each of the children attending this camp could be the sole subject
of separate documentaries… ... starting with Monique and Dominique
Beltran, teenaged siblings living with their single mother
Elizabeth. Monique is an amazing poet and singer-songwriter with
severe dyslexia and reading difficulties. Dominique, born one year
earlier to the day than his sister, is close to savant-level, has
been creating his own magazines and movies since a very early age,
but has difficulties expressing himself and integrating socially…
And he cannot stand his sister’s music!
... Casey Metcalfe is a curly-haired, cherubic eleven year-old.
The son of a successful Hollywood screenwriter, Casey is blessed
with unstoppable energy, a permanent tendency to get himself in
trouble, and an all-consuming desire to draw, not unlike that of his
friend...
... Noah Niemeyer, also eleven, raised by a single father. Noah’s
obstinate refusal to bend to Casey’s artistic will makes for some of
the funniest and most poignant on-screen moments this filmmaker has
ever witnessed. Casey and Noah are stars! |
 |
|
|
... Stephanie Greenwald is a shy teenager who loves to swim and has won
fifty-two Special Olympic medals. When she opens up and starts painting,
drawing and animating her passion comes to life, and is exhilarating to
watch. The development of her painter’s gift culminates in her troubling
self-portrait. ... Jon Corlander, a brilliant Asperger’s teen, who has
known he wanted to be a filmmaker since he was five, shares with us his
troubled past as a bullied kid - as well as his incredible sense of
humor.
... and, finally, Ben Anderson, a troubled teenaged
rock-god-in-the-making, whose brooding musings, along with his crush on
Brad’s assistant Hana, will take us to a darker place from where we will
be lifted by his tremendous musical talent. |
|
Jon’s film “Stage Dog”; Noah’s “Mirage”; Ben’s “Loose Tooth”; the
class silent film; Monique’s poems and music; Stephanie and Casey’s
paintings and drawings; and last but certainly not least, Ben’s
incredible rock’n roll are some of the artistic treats this film has
in store for its viewers. The children's narrative arcs all point to
the constructive, therapeutic nature of their education in the
creative arts. KIDS
WITH
CAMERAS
has a four-act structure based on the chronological thru-line of the
camp - Day 1 through Day 5. As we meet our protagonists we
successively “travel” into their private lives; and then watch the
results of their artistic efforts. The show culminates with the Day
5 parent screening - with an added epilog of the which wraps up the
show by checking the children’s progress one year later.
The relevance, timeliness and visibility of the theme alone
position KIDS WITH CAMERAS to reach a nationwide audience.
Nonetheless, the real strength of the film lies in the intimate look
into our fascinating characters’ lives, combined with the
entertainment value of the children’s art. All these elements
conspire to make this film an impossible-to-forget lesson in the
healing power of creativity. |
 |
|
DIRECTOR STATEMENT
The number of children diagnosed with autism is increasing at an
accelerated rate nationwide, having grown ten-fold over the last two
decades and reaching as many as 1 in 150 children born in the USA today
– four times more boys than girls. All this has prompted many voices to
call autism an epidemic. The investigation about the future course of
education for autistic children is at the forefront of public
consciousness: from Time Magazine to the New York Times, from American
Pediatric Magazine to People Magazine this issue is being hotly debated;
and although recent research indicates that developing autistic
children’s creative and acting abilities significantly improves their
social interaction skills, these methods are generally overlooked as
therapeutic tools. Our film looks at several forms of art therapy as
possible answers to helping these children bridge the gap that separates
them from society. To anyone who's ever felt isolated or misunderstood,
this labor of love is a testimony to the healing power of art.
BUY THE FILM $19.95 Plus Shipping |
|
